A Sea of Red is a Liberty Flames site that has written about our favorite little team this week.
The other part of the Q&A, was me asking Jon Manson some questions.
- What is a great season for Liberty this season?
A great season would be to win enough games to be bowl eligible, but that may be a bit of a pipe dream. A realistic goal is to win somewhere in the range of 4-6 games this season with no embarrassing losses (save Auburn).
- Was Baylor was the biggest win for Liberty even though there were some FBS upsets in the past?
We discussed this on our podcast after the Old Dominion win earlier this season. Yes, the Baylor win is the biggest in school history despite how the 2017 season unfolded for the Bears. It was the program’s first ever win over a P5 school, and it came in our first game after announcing the move to the FBS ranks. We were still technically an FCS team when that game was played. Most Liberty fans hope that win will quickly be replaced as the best ever win in the near future though.
- Do you really play New Mexico twice? What is the deal with that?
Yes, we play an in season home and home with NMSU in 2018 and 2019. With us announcing our FBS move just 18 months prior to playing our first game, and it being an Independent move without the 8-9 conference games to rely on, we were desperate for games. NMSU was in the same boat after being kicked out of the Sun Belt. So, it was out of necessity. We’ve announced complete schedules through 2021, and the Aggies don’t appear on any other schedules after 2019.
(Link for future schedules – http://www.aseaofred.com/2020-2030-schedules/)
- I can see 6 wins if I squint for the Flames, what is the outlook in your opinion?
Before the season, I was thinking 4-5 wins, but a few weeks into the season and I see that number at a realistic 5-6 wins. ODU is bad, two FCS games, two games against a bad NMSU team, and winnable games against New Mexico and UMass. We’ll learn a lot these next 4 weeks, after UNT, we make trips to New Mexico and New Mexico State followed by Troy back in Lynchburg.
- What has been the toughest part of the FBS transition?
I’m not sure we know yet. We’re so early in the process still. My guess is it will be adjusting to playing a full FBS schedule, just the weekly grind of playing FBS teams every week. I expect it to take a toll on the depth of the team as the season progresses. We’ve really only got one full recruiting class as an FBS team, and they’re all true freshman and brand new JUCO transfers.
